Low-tension steam-heating system.



M. P; OSBOURN & B. W. COMFORT.

LOW TENSION STEAM HEATING SYSTEM.

APILIOATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1907.

1,096,941. Patented May 19, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

L I L ('Jnoeutond Mac/r04, f Mum '9 Witnuoeo 84mm (1), flmtzfi/ 1w M. P.OSBOURN 11: E. W. COMFORT.

LOW TENSION STEAM HEATING SYSTEM. APPLIOATION PILED SEPT. 13, 1907. 1Q96 941 Patented May 19, 1914.

Z SHEETS-$3113 1 2.

lvwantom lation or control of means for varying the pressure of thesteam in the steam main Millard P. Osbourn,

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILLARDP. OSBOURN AND EDWARD W. COMFORT, or MERCHANTVILLE, NEW JERSEY,

ASSIGNORS :ro WARREN WEBSTER & COMPANY,

.A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LOW-TENSION STEAM-HEATING SYSTEM.

toenail.

Patented May 19, 1914.

To all whom, it may concern 1 Be it known that we, MILLARD P. OsnoURNand 'EnwAnD W. COMFORT, of the city of Merchantville, county of Camden,and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvementin Low-TensionSteam-Heating Systoms, of which the following is a specification. 7

Our invention has reference to low tension stean'i-heating systems, andconsists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in the.following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings,which'form a part thereof.

Our invention has for its object the regufrom which the heating systemderives its heat energy.

More specifically, ourfimprovement comprehends the regulation of a valvethat controls the extent of vacuum which is permitted to exist in theexhaust pipe or main of a steam engine and from which the steam issupplied to the heaters or radiators.

Our lnvention consists of an automatic regulator of special constructionadapted tor use in a low pressure system of steam heating such asdisclosed in application Ser. No. 312,080, filed April 17, 1906, in thename of one of the applicants of this application.

' More specifically, the invention consists a relief valve to controlthe pressure operating the diaphragm valve which regulates the extent ofvacuum in the exhaust main, combined with a lever device for normallyholdingthe relief valve more or'less closed, an expansible bellows foroperating the lever device to open the relief valve,

and one or more thermostatic devices for controlling the operation ifthe bellows.

' Our invention also comprehendsdetails ofconstruction which, togetherwith the fea-v tures above specified, will be better understood byreference to the drawings, in

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a low tension steam-heating systemhaving our invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an elevation of ourimproved regulator; and Fig. 3 is a plain-view of the same.

Referring to the system illustrated in Fig. l, we have a valve in theexhaust or suction to the condenser which constitutes into a mainexhaust pipe C, one branch oi.

which supplies the steamheating system and is provided with the usualescape pipe I to the atmosphere to permit excess of exhaust steam toescape, and another branch C which leads to the condenser G.

The radiators or heating units of the heatmg system are indicated at Aand these com municate with the main supply pipe C by a suitable pipe orriser A and discharge through a return pipe E to the main re turn main Ewhich leads to the condenser. A suitable valve F-automatic or Staticmay. be arranged in the return E to control the discharge from theradiator or heat unit.

J is an the exhaust connection to the condenser, the regulation of whichcontrols the suction or partial-vacuum produced by the condenser uponthe exhaust pipe and 011-, gine. This valve is automatically regulatedby thermostatic devices, controlled by the temperature exterior to thebuilding and preferal'ily also by the temperature of the steam supply tothe heating system. In the drawings, we have shown the valve J operatedby compressed air which is adapted to act upon the diapl'lragm through apipe K leading from a reservoir L" in which comautomatically operatingvalve in n'essed air is delivered by a com iressor L- and this valve Jis controlled by a, regulator M operated thermostatically by the outsidethermostat N and, if desired, also by the steam temperature thermostat Owhich is contained within the exhaust pipe.

A pipe Kt leads from the air chamber of the diaphragm valve J, and itsend D is controlled by a relief valve 6 which is controlled by theregulator M thermostatically operated. When the relief valve 25 is open,the diaphragm valve J will open to a greater extent, thereby permittingthe vacuum in the condenser to be exerted in the exhaust pipe. to lowerits pressure and consequently reduce the tension. of the steam which issupplied to the heating system, this regulation being automaticallyperformed to meet the conditions indicated by the thermostatic devices.

The thermostats N and O are adapted to operate with an expansible fluid.and this expansible fluid we prefer shall be-air under low pressure ofabout 14,- pounds per square inch at 70 temperature. These i3W(thermostats are united as, at n and by means of a pipe they communicatewith the interior of the expansible bellows M, which may consist of aseries of annular chambered partsa connected at their central parts byducing a resultant ring portions 24 so as to have capacity to expand andcontract. By this arrangement, the action of the two thermostats is suchthat they both cooperate at all times in protor M for the diaphragmvalve J. It is, of course, evident that either one of these thermostatsmight be omitted if desired.v a

Air is preferred to be used in the thermostats because it responds tochanges of temperature much more readily than liquids; its rate ofexpansionis'the same at any temperature; and the diflic-ulty of keepingthe thermostats absolutely full of liquid is obviated. Therefore,whilewe prefer the use of air we donot confine ourselves thereto as any gasor liquid may be used, if so desired;

The bellows u has one end rigidly connected to the'frame of theregulator and through which the air from the thermostats pass and hasthe other or "free end connected to a lever a which is adapted to bedepressed by the expansion of the bel The lever a is fulcrumed upon aplate a, and its free end is connect ed by a link a with a second'leverb, which latter is fulcrumed at bon one side of the link and isconnected at the other end with lows. spring the relief valve 25. Thelink 0 is adapted to notches in the levers so as to retain any posi-vtion of adjustment which may be given, to it, the said adjustment beingadapted to vary movement of the lever a, under the action "of thebellows u. Arranged below thelever a and in line with the bellows uthere is provided a spring at whichpresses upward against the "levers inoppositionto the thermostatic bellows 'u, and furnishes the,-forcenecessary to close the valve t.

Thevalve t isin efiectthe outlet to the diaphragm chamber of the valveJ, and his evident that,if the outlet valve 25 be practically closed,air will slowly pass the nearly closed I valve while accumulatingpressure back of the diaphragm valve, and more or less closing'the same.The valve t has considerable area and the pressure that can accumulatehehind'the diaphragm valve J depends upon the amount of the" spring mpressure exerted to hold the valve t closed modified by the thermostaticpressure. This pressuref or closing the valve 25 varies with the actionof the thermostats in the following manner: Ilhe expansion 'of air inthe thermostats acting through the bellows it Qtible to action upon theregula the throw of the lever b with any given Broadly considered,[adapted for use in connection with means for thermostaticallycontrolling the circulation will weaken the pressure of the sprin m, andthe accumulated air pressure bac lz of thevalve t will then openthe'said valve and keep itimore or' less open until all of the pressuresexerted on thevalve, t to close it balance the pressure which opens'it.This action to be accurate would necessitate that the atmosphericpressure be constant, but it is not, and consequently by-substitut-ingelasv tic air for the inelastic noncompressible liquids, the apparatusbecomes very suscepxbarometrical influences. These changes, however, maybe accurately compensated for by inclosing the spring min a.hermetically sealed bellows u of the exact size and shape of thethermostatic bellows a. As these bellows are placed opposite to eachother, it is evidentthatall changes in atmospheric pressures becomeneutralized. This inclosing bellows u is shown in section to expose thespring at within it. One end of the bellows is secured to the abutmentfor the spring while the other end of both the spring and bellows areconnectedand move with the lever a.

A U-shaped glass tube Sis shown back of the levers and to one side ofthe bellows and adapted to contain mercury so as to constitute a gage toindicate thermostatic pressure on the bellows, the upper'end of the tubebeing in communication with the 4 tube from the thermostats leading tothe bellows.

gage T which is in communicationwith the pipe leading from the diaphragmvalve,

and therefore indicates the pressure of the air between said diaphragmvalve and the relief valve 25.

The adjustable link between the levers a and 7) permit the change of'leverage of the lever' dev'icewhich actuates the valve t,'andconsequently, the pressure which keeps the valve 25 closedagainst theaction of the compressed air may be adjusted to operate on any desiredchange in temperature.

Our invention covered in this application has particular reference tothe special M as a whole,

construction of the regulator There is also shown a pressure and also tothe same in connection with the means ,for operating the diaphragm valveof the condenser. I

While we have shown our improvement in connection with one form ofapparatus designed to operate on low tension, it is understood; that anylow tension system in which the tension ofthe steam is dependent uponthe operativeness of a regulated valve device is comprehended by ourinvention.

our invention is ofsteam irrespective of the particular indus. trialpurpose for which the circulation is effected. Moreover, it isapplicable to any system where the temperature and pressure of orpressure within the pose of controlling the partial vacuum produced bythe condenser by temperature changes, such, for example, as variationsin the temperature of the cooling vwater or changes in the outsidetemperature. While our invention is applicable forthese variouspurposes, it is particularly adapted to steam heating systems Wherevariations" in the main steam supply are desirable to suit changes inclimatic conditions,="and is especially useful in the combination ofasteam heating system with a condensing plant to enable a portion of thesteamto be economically used for heating purposes withoutdisproportionate loss in the condensing effects. lVhile we prefer theconstruction shown as being excellently adapted for the purposes of ourinvention, We do not restrict ourselves tothe details as they may bemodified without departing from the spirit of the invention. "Having nowdescribed our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. Thermostatically operated controlling means consisting of a pressurecontrolling valve, a spring to closertlre said valve, thermostaticallyoperated power devices consisting of a bellows containing a fluid underpressure to oppose the action of the spring to open the valve, athermostat for changing second bellows the pressure of the fluid to varythe power of the thermostaticallyoperated bellows, and a of similar forminclosing the spring whereby the regulator is'not affected bybarometrical changes.

2. Thcrmostatically operated controlling means consisting of a movablemember, a

spring to move the movable member in one direction, a bellows comprisinga: series of connected annular chambered parts for moving the movablemember in the other direction in opposition to the spring, athermostatic device for supplying the bellows with an expanding mediumto give it action, and a second bellows similar to the first-mentionedbellows in size and shape inclosing the springand cooperating ,with itin operating the movable member in opposition to the first-mentionedbellows.

3. The combination of a controlling valve, a fluid-pressure-1notor forcontrolling said valve, a vent from said fluid-prcssure-motor, a *alvecontrolling said vent, a lever for actuating said valve, a second lever,an adjustable connection between said levcrs, a spring to actuate saidsecond lever and tending to close the vent controlling valve, powerdevices opposing the action of said spring and tending to open thevalvc,and a thermostat controlling the pressure to said power devices. p

In testimony of which invention, we have hereunto set ourhands.

MILLARD P. OSBOURN. EDWARD W. COMFORT.

